Follow The Breadcrumbs
by RedDescendant
Summary: A fairy tale with a difference. Hansel is a selfish heir to a mansion and Gretel is a chambermaid. When she is made to go out hunting with him in the woods, as part of Hansels trials to becoming a man, many things go wrong. The classic fairy tale with all the basic details, but with a little more imagination!
1. Chapter 1

_This is based off the story of Hansel and Gretel, but changed in quite a few ways. All the characters are mine except Hansel and Gretel themselves. (this is my first attempt at fanfiction, please review if you would like to read more :) )_

"Gretel Underwood, please report to Mrs Henrings at once" called Liza, the nursery maid. I had been in the middle of scrubbing the gigantic bathroom floor with Hester, who had been complaining non stop since we started an hour before, so I got up immediately and left it to her. Whatever the housekeeper wanted, it had to be more interesting than Hesters drab personality.

"what does she want?" I hissed to Liza, who was standing outside the wide doorframe.

"I don't know, she didn't say!" said little Liza, eyes wide. She looked so fragile and delicate, with her tiny hands and curly blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, but once you got to know her, Liza was the loudest one of us. No wonder the kids listened to her, I certainly wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her!

"good luck," she whispered as I darted down the hallway. Mrs Henrings was the housekeeper of Elverdean House, and according to her, she ran the place. She was known as the Dragon among all of us servants, because of her unforgiving rages. But I always tried to stay on the right side of her, she was my employer after all, and a great friend of my grandmother.

As I eased the door to her chamber open, I saw the tight ball of hair at the nape of her neck, and her sharp, pointed nose. She was looking into a draw intently, like she had lost something. I was nervous but tried to hide it as I blurted out a muffled "Ma'am?"

she turned around instantly, her trained ears sharp as they always have been.

"Ah Gretel, please sit down." she said curtly, obviously in one of her good moods. My heart lifted. She didn't seem too angry.

"now Gretel, we seem to have a problem," My heart sank again. "but don't worry, it's not about you."

I sighed slightly in relief. A problem at Elverdean House normally meant you were going to be sacked. Mrs Henrings noticed and smiled knowingly.

" as you may be aware, our young master Hansel Elvedean, is approaching his 21st Birthday. It is family tradition for any young man to pass into adulthood on this birthday, after completing a full day hunting trip alone, without a professional guide."

"But still with a servant of the house" I finished for her. I did know this, it was common knowledge throughout the house, and some people were getting very excited about it.

"exactly. Normally the young master picks a familiar servant to accompany him, someone he has known for a long time."

I knew this too. But Hansel Elvedean had already picked George the butler, whom he had always been friendly with, throughout his life. So I didn't see what any of this had to do with me. I asked Mrs Henrings.

" I was just getting to that. Unfortunately, Hansel has been caught with his friends drinking his fathers supply of fine wine. As punishment, his hunting trial will be postponed until next month. George is not available on this date, so Hansels father Lord Elvedean has tasked me with the job to find someone to accompany Hansel."

None of this surprised me. He was a reckless man, and had no care for anyone else in the world. I disliked him very much, sick of hearing of more stories of how he had disappointed his father. I imagined myself leaving this job, and returning years later with lots of money, just to tell him exactly what I think of him.

" Gretel, you have been to the woods before, haven't you?"

My employer asked, pulling me away From my fantasy.

"uh...yes, yes of course. I've gone to collect berries often" I replied.

"good," she said offhandedly. "because I don't want you to be completely out if your comfort zone."

That stopped me in my tracks. Before that moment I hadn't realised what she had meant, that she wanted ME to accompany Hansel Elvedean. She caught my look of panic and touched my arm.

"I know you can do it, Gretel, we can trust you. You just have to trust yourself."

Right then, a massive clatter came crashing from below us, and the nice smile on Mrs Henrings face had vanished, replaced by the angry face of the strict housekeeper.

"excuse me." she spoke through her teeth. She was infuriated by everything anyone did wrong, whether she was present or not. It could make working at Elvedean House extremely difficult to cope with. Added to the irritating Hansel controlling our lives, time here was not the more fun places to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**A traditional fairy tale with quite about of twist! the characters are mine, except Hansel and Gretel themselves. Any similarities to a real person is completely by coincerdence, hope you enjoy! **

My hands were red raw by the time I got down to dinner that evening. Hester had done next to nothing in my absence, leaving me to finish the job of cleaning the bathroom floor. Honestly, I felt like reporting her, and making sure she gets the sack. The master bathroom had a bright white marble floor, six metres by ten metres. It normally took two people three hours to clean it, but today, it took us five, because of her lack of responsibly and capability. I huffed down the servants staircase, grumbling to myself, whilst I tried to soothe my blistered hands from the constant friction of the splintered scrubbing brush. I hadn't realised Hester had been walking down behind me, neither had I realised I had been speaking aloud, harshly about her. She looked at me, her eyes filling up with tears, and legged it towards the kitchens. I felt bad for a second, then remembered how useless she was, and my moment of weakness was gone. I was in too much of a bad mood to try and help other people problems.

Plonking myself down onto the cold bench in the kitchens where we ate, bowl of soup in hand, I remembered what had happened on the way back from Mrs Henrings room.

I had been dallying, caught up in some fantasy or another (the other girls called me Dappy Daydream - the amount of types I've got into scrapes because of my imagination) when I suddenly slammed straight into a solid wall. This snapped me back to reality, and I slowly lifted my head up, honestly unsure of what I had walked into head first. It took a moment before it registered in my mind that Hansel Elvedean was growling over me, his thin face red with anger. I gasped and rose my hands in surrender, stepping backwards.

"I am so, so s-s-sorry Sir," I stuttered, nervous of his reaction.

"what the hell are you doing here?!" he thundered. Hansel wasn't one of the tallest people I had ever met, only around five foot, thirteen inches. I was five foot, seven , so it felt like he towered over me, intimidating.

"just h-heading to the master

b- bathroom" I replied, sweat starting to pour down my face, but instead of carrying on towards the bathroom , I turned tail and ran. I couldn't explain my immense fright, I just was. Ever since I started working at the House, I was terrified of any encounters with Hansel. This added to my annoyance at him, because that scared feeling in the pit of my stomach, always made me feel unbelievably sick, and I knew it was his fault. So I blamed him.

I pondered this as I slurped up my cabbage soup, realising how pathetic I was going to be with him in the woods. If I was this frightened now, how would I cope an entire day of just Hansel?

I still couldn't figure out how I would survive when Zachary, the groom, slipped onto the bench beside me.

"Cheer up ol' girl! It might never happen!" he said, pinching my arm lightly. I smiled. Just the mere sound of his voice made me smile these days. I was met with a cheeky grin as I turned around; his brown eyes sparkling from beneath his thick, dark eyelashes. His hair was all over the place, little straggles of hay entwined with the brown strands of hair. I smirked, and pulled out some hay, waving it in front of his face.

"I didn't realise you had golden hair now Zach!" I laughed, causing him to laugh too and try to take it back.

"Nice to see you smiling again Gret," he said softly, when he caught the hay from between my fingers. "You've looked awfully miserable recently." My smile fell, instantly reminded again of my rubbish life.

"Hey, keep the smile please! It's all I want!" he begged, before nicking the last of my bread from my hand, and pushing it inside my laughing mouth. Then, quick as a flash, my now free hand was enclasped in his, his thumb slowly running up and down.

However bad I felt inside, Zach was always there to make me smile again. He considered it his personal job, because apparently I'm 'much to sad for my own good'. We had been secretly courting for a few months now, and I really felt like I'd met my match. We balanced each other out. Of course, servants weren't allowed to court, but many did, including us, and everybody turned a blind eye, even Edward, an old foreman, who was very strict on rules. Only Mrs Henrings didn't know, because she was even bigger on rules and crime than anyone else.

I swallowed down the hard bread and turned my while body around to face him.

"Zachary, I've got some bad news," I began, and watched his face lose it's grin too.

"Bad news? Well you'd better tell me then"

So I told him everything about what Mrs Henrings had told me earlier. I tried to make it sound a little better, by adding in positives like, 'I get a day off work!' or 'I will get more money.' Zach didn't seem to buy my attempted enthusiasm, and he gripped my hand tighter.

"it'll be fine." he said reassuringly,"I'm sure you can cope, your extremely strong you know. You have just got to believe that you can get through it!" and as soon as he said it I believed it. I would trust Zachary Pitt with my life, with my mothers life, so whatever he had to say, I absorbed it, and played by his rules. In fact, my own personal rule to get through life is to trust what Zach says, and do it. It's worked so far, it can work again.

The next two days, nothing else happened to do with the hunting trip. I washed carpets, tidied rooms, and did little errands around the House, much like normal. It wasn't until the third day that I got another call from Liza during lunch, announcing that I was needed in the drawing room. The people who didn't know about me going hunting (which was most; I had only told a few people) looked at me confused, but nobody asked any questions. A lot happened at Elvedean House, and a lot we learn to ignore, so it is not a distraction.

I walked to the drawing room briskly, wishing I was allowed to dawdle. I was on edge, no idea how this would play out. Slowly, I pushed open the large door, and peeked around. Mrs Henrings, George and Lord Elvedean were all present, the Lord seated comfortably on a plush chair, the others standing nearby. Mrs Henrings saw me first, and beckoned me in, her strict face plastered there, thin lips not moving an inch. I went in and stood near her, unsure how to hold myself. I guessed we were waiting for Hansel, unsurprisingly. By the time he finally came in, around half an hour later, I had completely lost my free fifteen minutes of lunch. I was starving, and my stomach gave me away. Mrs Henrings gave me a sharp 'shh' and we watched the door swing open, followed by the gangly heir. **His eyes searched around the room, until finally coming to rest on me. **

**"A GIRL?!" he shouted, obviously furious. He started to stalk towards me purposefully, but George bravely managed to intercept, and tried to calm him down. **

**"yes, a girl. You were disobedient my son, and for that you must learn you lesson." His father replied cooly. He made a quick gesture for me to approach Hansel, and I did so, afraid. I didnt take my eyes off him, and his stayed trained on me too. When I was within a suitable distance from him, I stopped, and curtsied as daintily as possible, trying to hide my disgust at him. **

**"Now, I want you to get to know each other." said Lord Elvedean, " so we shall leave the room, and see how you two get on." I choked, trying to make it sound like a cough. Leave me alone with this maniac? Were they absolutely crazy? They must have been, because I watched them leave the posh room. I could feel Hansels eyes on me, burning through my soul. I avoided eye contact for as long as possible, but as soon as even just my eyes flicked over his, he started to move stealthily toward me. For some reason, I stood my ground and squeezed my eyes shut. But when nothing happened, I pulled one apart, and squinted up into... Darkness. This shocked me, how had it got dark? The shock made both eyes open wide, and as soon as they did, a heavy blow struck across my face. Something metal had indented into my fletch, so I was bleeding instantly. The pain shot through my entire body and I screamed in pain, as loud as I could so the Lord would hear me. U saw his hand move again, and this time strike across the other side of my face. This time, the metal dug in more, so I was bleeding quite heavily on both sides on my face, screaming in agony. The force of this blow knocked me clean off my feet, as I lay sprawled on the floor. It was as Hansels hand rose for the third time, and I admitted defeat, that Lord Elvedean, George and Mrs Henrings burst into the room, greeted by the sight of me now cowering beneath his raised, metal ridden fist. **

**George scooped me up in one arm as quick as possible, and shoved hansel out of the way with the other He started to run, shouting 'Doctor!' very loudly and breathlessly. Behind me I heard some extremely loud shouts and swears before I was whisked out of earshot and towards the House infirmary. **

**Well, that had gone well. **


	3. Chapter 3

_**All the characters are mine,except Hansel and Gretel. Enjoy! (please review!)**_

"Snap," I said halfheartedly. Zachary had come up in his dinner hour to see me in my room, which I shared with Alicia, Penny and Rachel. I had been given the afternoon off, after strict instructions from the Elvedeans personal doctor, who had been here anyway, that I needed to rest because my head had suffered a 'reasonable amount of cruelty' I had scoffed at that. What Hansel had done to me wasn't just cruelty, it was assault, and a big ol' dose of it!

Anyway, we were playing Snap, probably the most boring card game ever invented, but it seemed to reflect our moods. Even Zach wasn't joking around like normal. Maybe he had realised how bad this was going to be. I had. I had, and I already knew that it wasn't going to be pretty. In fact, I was even more petrified than I had been before, which certainly did not help the situation.

Oh, if only for self-confidence**.**

**"why don't we stop this?" said Zach softly, gently laying his hand over mine, lowering my cards to the table. **

**"okay," I replied wistfully. **

**"come on then!" he smiled . I raised my eyebrows as he pulled me up off my bed, so I was standing. **

**"Zach, what are you doing?" I questioned before suddenly I was spun around, my hands clasped in his tightly so I wouldn't fall over. I screamed, rapidly turning into a giggle as I stopped, the world spinning out of focus. **

**"Zach!" I said, still laughing. He just smiled, and spun me around again. My room was barely big enough for the two of us to stand; how he managed to keep us both upright I will never know. This time, instead of letting me get my balance again, Zach pulled me in towards him so I fell into his chest. As I fell, his hands disentangling from mine, he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close to him. I stopped laughing and just looked up into his twinkling brown eyes, the candle light reflecting. **

**"You will be okay Gretel, I guarantee it," he whispered , looking deep into the depths of my soul. **

**"I hope so" I said under my breath, more to myself than to Zachary. **

**"Hey. Honestly!" he said, tilting my chin up so our faces were inches apart. The corners of my mouth pulled up slightly as he brushed away a strand of my hair that had come loose. Slowly, he brought his face closer to mine, until our noses were pressed together. **

**"I love you Gretel Underwood. No matter what." **

**And before I could reply, his lips came crashing down onto mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging on like he was my only chance of survival. Our lips melded together, working as one; slowly moving, twisting, turning. I had my eyes shut tight, but gradually I opened them, only to see him looking straight back at me. His eyes smiled, in that way he did best, and then it was over. We started to break apart, but I didn't let go of his neck. **

**"I love you too, Zachary Pitt. Forever." **


	4. Chapter 4

_**So so sorry for the late update, been taken over by quite a lot tests and revision and things, so I have tried to make this a bit longer. I'm very sorry is the content of this chapter is a little borderline M but give me the benefit of the doubt? Sorry sorry sorry! Please enjoy and leave your reviews!**_

Over the next week nothing seemed to change much. I had to go to another meeting with Hansel only two days from his previous attack, but this time we were supervised the whole time. Well, I say supervised. More like Hansel was restrained while I was blocked from view by Mrs Henrings. I was in there less than an hour, but it felt like forever. Hansels father was trying to explain to him what to do in the woods, how to survive, which Hansel listened to fairly pleasantly. But as soon as they started to describe to me my job, he began to shout, about me, about all of it, completely drowning out the Lords voice. I heard barely anything above the din, but Lord Elvedean didn't seem to care and neither did his son. But Mrs Henrings seemed to be in a happier mood, and she promised me under her breath to explain properly later, and for that I was very thankful.

Basically, what I have to do with Hansel in the woods, is supervise. I have to make sure he stays within the grounds in the woods and doesn't venture out into the public; the reason being that the Elvedeans are not the most liked family in the area. In fact, they are hated throughout the country because of Lord and Lady Elvedeans foul tempers and controlling nature. It doesn't help that their only son is following in their footsteps, taking charge of anything and everything he can, whilst not coping when he doesn't get what he wants.

I've also got to show him the correct way to go, and skin the animals he kills whilst hunting. I'm also in charge of cooking and generally looking after him.

I also found out we are out there for a week.

An entire week.

I told Mrs Henrings I didn't think I could cope that long, but she assured me I was the strongest they had, and I wouldn't be alone the entire time. Apparently there would be sentries tracking us, to make sure we were safe, but Hansel wouldn't know, and he was not allowed to find out.

I didn't see Hansel around the manor very often, he was always out, and arriving home very early in the morning, before sleeping all the following day. He always made a huge racket as he thumped up the stairs and threw up in the toilet from the alcohol poisoning. The walls were very thin to our chamber, and we heard every retch and swear he made. Therefore, when we called to a final meeting about the dreaded hunting trip, we were both as rough and tired as Hell.

"well," Lord Elvedean proclaimed proudly. "the expedition has been moved forward. You will now leave the Manor tomorrow evening and return next Friday night." neither of us showed any sign of emotion. That was the first time I realised that maybe Hansel was in the same boat as me, unable to refuse to take part. He sat there glumly, on the opposite side of the room to everyone else in attendance. I felt like imitating him, I was exhausted, but I had to stand up, beside Mrs Henrings.

After we were dismissed I returned to my work of dusting the Master Bedroom, which didn't take very long, as the Lady was a strong believer of cleanliness, and didn't trust us to do a good job, therefore did it for us. Yet we were still tasked to do it for some reason, but it didn't take all day, like others. As soon as I finished that (taking all of one hour) I rushed downstairs to the stables in order to let Zach know I was going the next day, but he seemed to already know and didn't say anything as I burst into the stable, starling a couple of the horses. He normally told me off for doing that; he put his loving heart and soul into the Elvedeans horses. I skidded to a halt inside, immediately overwhelmed by the stench of horse manure, burning metals and straw. You could get used to the metal and manure pretty quickly, they were such a regular waft. But because new straw only came once a month, all I could smell was it, and that has a very warm and homely feel to it. I had barely taken a second sniff before I was snatched into a tight hug by Zachary, who, by the coolness of a metal on my bare skin, was holding his lucky charm with him in his palm, of which he was slowly running up and down my back. He had pulled up my pinny slightly and his arm was covered beneath it, the other arm wrapped around my waist casually.

"Hey, hey there!" I said gently but he just shushed me and carried on tracing his fingers along my spine. We stood there for a while, just enjoying each others company, as warmth as me pressed up against one another. His forehead was rested on my shoulder, and I slowly stroked his hair, fingers threading through his dark curls.

"what are you thinking?" Zachary whispered in my ear.

"what am I thinking? I don't know..."

I replied, a little unsure in what to say. "I guess I'm thinking about how pointless all of this is. I mean, why are we so afraid of Hansel Elvedean?" At this, Zach pulled away, holding me at arms length and staring into my eyes.

"maybe because he hurt you a lot the other day. Maybe because you have to spend time unsupervised without the bastard?"

"I know, I know" I replied breathily. " I just don't understand it. What have we done to him? And why should we be scared of him. It's not like I'm going to die or anything; it's just a walk in the woods."

Zach pulled me into his chest again. "of course you won't die Gretel! I just don't want to see you get hurt again!"

I didn't say anything, knowing that he understood. But it was true; I was confused about why we were so worried. He's just a man. How awful can one man be?

"so what are you thinking?" I said after a minute, playfully.

"just about how much I love you, sweet pea." I smiled up at his grin and leant inwards.

He seemed to have to same idea, and our lips were touching for only a second, softly, gently. Zach's hands were still entwined around me, and suddenly, I was driven to the limit. The dainty kiss was not enough to quench the raging fire burning in my stomach, so I pulled him back to me in a kiss that I will never forget. We were soldered together, unbreakable. Our lips fought for dominance, dancing in blazing desire, until I gave it to him. I was rewarded as his tongue flicked against mine, and I nipped it lightly with my front teeth, which made him flinch for a second, before burying it deeper inside my mouth.

I hadn't realised we were moving backwards until my back was up against a wooden post, and his hand was hastily pushing under my skirts and gripping my hip, holding me up. I was now the same height as him as he lifted me up against the post. I never let go of his face, making sure not to break contact, never to break the contact.

Everywhere he touched felt like a fiery trail across my pale skin. My legs were revealed, and my blouse had been opened unknowingly, as had Zachs. Our lips had still not parted for longer than the briefest of seconds in order for us to breathe, but by now, my hands were beneath his shirt, gently probing at his slight abdominal muscles, which managed to send me into a new dizzying height. Both of his hands were holding me up now, softly circling my hips, making me squirm around and laugh onto his lips, making us both vibrate. I had wrapped my now naked legs around his waist, an unexpected surprise when i felt a slow bulge grow against my thigh.

"Gretel..." he whispered breathlessly, his mouth moving away, but I quieted him with a quick, sharp kiss that was followed my many more. I felt like I was on a high, more confident that ever before. Confident even to...

"Go on Zachary. I need you...now!" I said, surprising myself. He frowned,

"are you sure? I don't want to force you..."

"no Zach, please do it. I want this; I want you."

"only if your comfortable..."

I cupped the bump In his trousers with a free hand. This shut him up pretty quickly, which was just what I was aiming for. He closed his eyes.

"come on Zach! For me?" I flitted my eyelashes, something I had never done in my life.

He sank down onto my hand and nodded. I giggled girlishly, and slowly started rolling the bulge in the palm of my hand. He purred like cat, and suddenly let go of my hips to grip my bottom, making me gasp in surprise. I rubbed his nose with mine and kissed him sweetly this time, my hand still on his trousers. His eyes were half closed, and his fingers probed, sending jolts through me in excitement. I had never felt so happy, so free...

"WHAT IS GOING ON?"

We froze. I knew that voice. That was the voice of Hansel Elvedean, and by the sound of it, we were in deep trouble.

Suddenly a loud SMASH echoed around the now silent stable, and Zachary gasped, his face still very close to mine. Slowly, he lowered me to the ground, as gently as possible, as I unwound my legs and arms from him. Righting my skirts and redoing my blouse, I turned around to face the young master.

"would you kindly like to explain exactly what you two were doing, half dressed in my stables?" he bellowed. I bet that was only so the entire house could share in this 'disaster'

Both our faces were bright red with shame and embarrassment, and I looked at the ground. That was when I saw Zach's horse shoe, snapped on the floor from when he had dropped it, obviously the second before.

"you both should be ASHAMED, such filthiness will not be accepted in MY house... WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THAT?"

Hansel had caught sight of the horse shoe. At Elvedean House, the whole family are very superstitious. They will always try and not to walk on cracks in the road, and never have upside-down horse shoes. In fact, they were most obsessed about horse shoes. So I guess, that was why he was so angry to see a snapped horseshoe; it was losing its luck faster than lightning.

"Guards. Arrest the boy, and take him to the cellar. He has no only broken my property, and has undoubtably caused some kind of bad luck in our household, but has been caught raping a young girl, instead of working. His punishment will be delivered shortly." Hansel ordered this with straight face, though he was as red as us with anger rather than embarrassment.

Rape? Zach wasn't raping me, we weren't even doing anything! And as for arresting him? How does Hansel even have the authority, or the power to speak for his father on behalf of 'our household'?! But he must have because there was Zachary being dragged away by some burly sentries, his hands already tied behind his back with some old rope.

"and as for you, miss Gretel. You would be facing the same fate as your little friend over there, but unfortunately I need you for my hunting trip tomorrow. So you may use escaped arrest, but you have just drawn yourself in for some fun tomorrow with me. I will make sure you get everything you signed yourself up for. And by the way; I don't forget anything. Take her to her chamber!" he finished, flouncing out of the stable after Zach.


	5. Chapter 5

_**here's another chapter guys, sorry its taken so so long to update! i completely blanked on what i should do, but thanks to some support and ideas from my good friend XDTheWriterXD i have a clearer picture of what is going to happen now! i will try and update this as much as i possibly can now, as well as my other story, 'You have to be Bold, Darling!' which, if you haven't checked out, i would be thrilled if you did! basically a modern take on Beauty and the Beast!**_

**_any-ways_**_**, i hope you like this chapter, i promise something more interesting will happen soon!**_

_**Disclaimer: i do not own Hansel or Gretel, but the other characters and story line is my own (with a little help from XDTheWriterXD thanks mate c: )**_

'Come on, move your fat arse, I want to at least be in the woods by this evening!" Shouted Hansel, who was storming ahead of me like a steam train. For some reason, his own father had pulled me back before we left, and wished me luck, before Eric the footman dropped a ten-ton bag into my arms. And then Hansel goes off at a hundred miles per hour? God, no wonder I was knackered already, we'd been walking an hour and my arms were killing, and my legs, from the running in order to keep up with Hansel.

"Please...please...can we...stop for a second?" I asked, trotting along.

"No. We can stop when we reach the woods, but not until then." He snapped, not even turning around to look at me as he spoke. I decided to brush his rudeness off this time, and stayed quiet for a while. Its difficult, especially when I was huffing and puffing from the horrific weight of this bag, which he had bluntly refused to even acknowledge when I had mentioned it to him.

How the hell would I survive a week? I was already about to burst from anger and frustration, and it had only been just over an hour!

Finally we reached the edge of the trees, but we could still see the house on the horizon from where we stood, though it was miles and miles away. I muttered this under my breath as the water bottle I was about to drink from was snatched from my grasp. I scoffed quietly, but I think he heard me as I was fixed with the most evil glare in the world. I shut up, and waited for my turn with the water. I knew I would not be able to hold this patience for a whole week, but might as well sweeten him up a bit!

"Oh god, I'm so glad to get away from that house! " he said, more to himself than to me, so I politely didn't answer, which, thinking about it, wasn't quite the right thing to do,"What are you? As soon as I speak to you, you're a mute, but if you want to speak your mind, oh, everyone should listen then. Yes I've heard your moaning, don't worry. Poor Hester, the amount of grief she must get from you..." he tutted loudly, which just infuriated me more.

"For your information," I said through gritted teeth, " I'm under orders to look after you. Not to pander to your every will. So excuse me for not answering when _you_ want me to. I'm not paid for this, you -"

"I am your Master. You are a servant. Therefore you are being paid to serve. and this week, _you_ are serving _me_." He interrupted, stepping closer to me so he could breathe right onto my face. "So deal with it, girl, because there's no stable boy to look out for you now." He spat, sneering down at me.

"OI! Don't speak about Zachary like that! He's not just some stable boy, he cares about me and my life, and, for your information, _I love him for it._ So if you don't want me to abandon you, you shut up about him! And I can look after myself, thank you very much. " Folding my arms, I gave him the best condescending look I could muster. He said nothing. Right then, I thought, if he's not going to play nice, then neither am I.

"Come on, we have to get moving. There's only a few hours until nightfall, and we have to put up a tent and eat." And without another word, I picked up my bag and started to walk, continuing down the path. I started off walking fast, but gradually slowed it down, until after a minute, I heard the crunch of a fresh branch cracking, and the slow trudge of him following me. I couldn't decide whether I was happy about this or not. Maybe if he didn't follow, I could return from this dreaded hike?

Suddenly my mind was overwhelmed with plots and theories, of how to completely get out of it, still. Maybe I could lead him off the wrong way, off the grounds, and lose him, making sure that he did not find his way back. Maybe I could run away. Maybe I could...kill him. No, no. I was in this now. What ever happened now, would be known by Hansel, and the sentries keeping watch, so I would definitely be punished, and not pleasantly I doubt. I soon vanquished these ideas from my mind, and tried to just keep thinking of Zachary, and the beautiful moment we'd shared the previous night, before we'd been rudely interrupted by that git behind me. Ugh. I really hated him, more than I ever thought I could hate. I would get revenge on him for locking Zachary up, even if it got me in devastatingly hideous trouble, I would free him. This is what drove me on, staying a good ten metres in front of my company, just wishing it could be over as soon as possible.

Night drew in slowly, the sky dazzling shades of blues and pinks dancing with each other to create this dramatic yet soothing artwork of nature. Gradually the stars crept their way out, twinkling through the trees and brightening our path. The moon was large and shining; the night really was a beautiful one. We settled down in a little open space in the wood, with a couple of strong looking trees around, so we could drape a large piece of cloth over it, to use as a tent. I say we, Hansel did nothing, but collect a few little twigs for kindling, letting me organise the rest. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, so tried my best and made it up, and I thought it worked out pretty well. Our tent was wide, and offered enough shelter for us both, and after a couple of tries, I did manage to get a strong fire going, enough to boil the water to make us a cup of black tea. That was the best part of the day, that tea; it was heavenly. The idea of tea just reminded me of relaxation and safety, so I did have a false sense of security, as I sat on a damp log in the middle of a wood, looking longingly up at the sky. Oh, how I wished I could join the stars up there, live and watch how peoples lives work, and how they sleep. It would be nice to be free of troubles and strife for a change. We had barely exchanged two words since the little disagreement earlier, so I was quite surprised when Hansel suddenly spoke up as we supped up tea and ate the sandwiches the cooks had packed that morning.

"Red sky at night, shepherds delight. " he said offhandedly, slouched over his mug, frowning slightly, looking thoughtful.

"That means there's not going to be any rain tomorrow. " I replied, equally as distant. He looked over at me and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You know of that too? Ive never heard someone else say those words back to me before! Its always the other way around..." he looked back out inti space, voice drifting away again.

"Yeah... my mother taught me it when I was young. " I responded, quietly as I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea or not. Surprisingly, his head quickly swivelled back around to face me, distant look changed into one of anger, and of pain.

"You're own mother taught you that?! You lucky bitch." I sharply took in a breath. That was completely uncalled for! He had now totally destroyed our chance to bond a little more by letting his anger take control.

"Excuse me?! Who's the one who's the heir to his fathers mansion?"

"Oh you understand perfectly well what I'm saying. " he folded his arms and scowled.

"In actual fact, I've got no idea, so stop being a child, and explain why you just called me that for no reason. " I stared at him as harshly as I could, trying to gain some authority over him. My plan failed though when he stood up and turned to me, advancing rapidly.

"Are you. ..telling me... that I am wrong? That I am... incapable of making sense? " his face was looming above me. I gulped. I had two options now. Use my initiative and take a step down, let him win, or fight back, and earn some respect for myself. It was a no-brainer.

"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying." I lifted my chin to look directly into his cold grey eyes.

"Well don't, " his spit landed on my face, " ever say it again."

And with that, his rough palm flew up into the air, before taking an almighty crash into the side of my face. It stung like crazy, but I was not going to give in just yet. I whimpered, and wobbled, but I managed to stand my ground. His hand flew up again, preparing for a second hit, but I took a step backwards. When his hand struck nothing, he looked confused, before spotting that I wasn't in the range of fire. Putting on a strong face, I looked straight at him and shouted:

"Goodnight, Hansel!" Before diving under the material and into my sleeping bag, without even bothering to change into my different clothes. I just really did not want another reason to come into contact with him, and getting changed in the forest, well, that was going to get his attention, and no doubt he was still angry. Well until the morning, I was relatively, safe. As safe as I could be.

**_Please review people, it means so much! so so sorry for the very delayed update!_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey again, Thanks to Amber the Bluebird for your reviews, I'm so grateful! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've tried to work on maybe a little character development, specifically in Hansel, but I hope that some of it comes as a bit of a shock to you. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll let you get on and read it! Hope you like, it's been one of my favourite to write so far!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the names Hansel and Gretel, but the other stuff is all mine! **___

"Come and get it. All you have to do is walk, and pick up your breakfast. I'm not your waitress."

"But-but I'm not dressed yet," he whined from inside the tent. I'd already been up for hours, and was fed up waiting for him to get up, but I didn't want to brave waking him up, and facing the wrath of his anger, carried on from the last night. We had had to share a tent, as the house hadn't ever thought for a girl to accompany the master of the house on his initiation journey, so there are no other tents.

I slept in fear the entire night that he would hurt me again, that he would cause me more pain. At one point I even considered getting the kitchen knife from the bag and killing him in his sleep, but I didn't have the guts. I was frozen still, afraid of any move I may make to trigger his awake and to punish me. When morning had broken, I was overjoyed, and got up instantly, eager to get out of my on ground, blanket-bed, that barely kept out the cold of the night.

Hansel's words seemed funny to me then. Maybe it was because of the sunlight; it gave me strength. I rolled my eyes.

"Well hurry up and get dressed. Or your food will get cold." I heard him sigh from behind the canvas. It wasn't long before he was out, in some khaki trousers and... nothing else. I took a double take. I'd never seen him without a shirt before, any man even, apart from Zach of course. I think he saw me though, which was a mistake, as he smirked at me and chuckled.

"Shocked by a little flesh are you, Gr-, what actually is your name?" I sighed. God, this guy really knew how to hit a nerve.

"Gretel. And no, _Hansel_ I am not 'shocked' I just remember how this trip is not a holiday, but simply a business trip, and that's your father's words."

"Harrumph. You know you love it really." Eugh, was he serious? There is no way I could ever feel even the little bit attracted to this monster of a man. Could I? I just crossed my arms and gave him the most contemptuous look I could muster, and gestured towards the bread which was slowly burning in the pan on the fire. That morning, before I made breakfast for myself, I braved a look in the massive bag I had been carrying yesterday. Inside was, not only Hansel's clothes, but a couple of pots and pans, two plates, a bowl, a knife, a large loaf of bread, and two mugs. No wonder the bag had been heavy, full of all that heavy stuff!

The day went on, very similar to the previous day, but much slower I found. It was just endless trekking through muddy fields, tripping over tree roots in my too-big boots, provided by the house. Hansel occasionally tried to make conversation, but failing to make it last for any longer. I didn't even bother this time, it went so wrong the day before, and I did not want to be hit yet again.

It was about mid-afternoon, when he really surprised me. We had stopped for a drink, (and for me to rest my weary shoulders, (the bag seemed to gain weight every hour), and I flopped down onto a little pile of soft moss at the foot of a massive oak, guzzling down as much water I could before he wanted it. Unfortunately, I took too long for his liking.

"Don't drink it all! Some of us are thirsty!" he snapped, trying to snatch the bottle from me. I dodged him, and smacked my lips, mocking him.

"Well for your information, I was thirsty too. You're not the only person alive y'know." He huffed. "Plus I'm carrying this _ginormous_ case, when is it your turn I wonder?" Hansel snorted, and turned his back on me, leaning sideways on the tree. I sighed and leant forward with the bottle outstretched. "Do you want this water then?" he made no move to take it from me. "Come, on Hansel, you know you want to take it!" I smirked. I like having control, even if it was just over some water. Poking him with it slightly, I let out a small giggle. "Hansel, drinky drink!" I was full-on laughing now. He still refused to take it from me, but his body was shaking slightly, and it looked like he was smiling. This made me smile more. I started to stop prodding him, but I was still giggling. _Oh God Gretel_, I thought to myself, _I must sound like such an idiot_! I tried to stop; sure he must think I was mad. Lowering my arm, and leaning back on the tree, I realised how stupid I had been. I had forgotten who I was with, acting like I was with Zach, not Hansel, of anyone. Angry with myself, I threw the half drunken water onto the floor, and put my head into my hands. I could feel my eyes welling up. _What had I done?! Oh Zachary, help me. I miss you. You'd know exactly what to do. I've got no idea what I'm doing out here. Help me Zach, someone. _Help_._

Suddenly, through a gap in my hands, I saw the abandoned bottle that had caused all this mess, move, and leave the leafy ground.

"Thanks." Said a voice I didn't recognise. I slowly took my shaking hands away from my face, and looked up. It didn't really look like anyone that I knew either. But it was. Hansel crouched down next to me, and gently placed his hand on my arm. He smiled nervously and said, "I'm sorry. Truly, I am. I shouldn't have snapped." I looked at him with contempt, and took a deep breath,

"What about everything else?" I said.

"Okay. I'm sorry for expecting you to do everything or me. I know that's not your job, and I apologise for being a prig to you." I stared at him, and brushed him off my arm. I stood up quickly. Did he really think that was all he'd done wrong?

"Is that what you think? That _that's_ why I'm angry with you most of the time? You have made my life HELL these past few weeks. You ignore me, or you lash out at me. On our first meeting you hit me twice, hard. And, _again_, last night. And all you think you've done is expecting too much me!? What's wrong with you, you ugly_, _uncooperative git! YOU'RE DESPICABLE!" I screamed at him, my voice cracking. My eyes, already full of tears, burst, and a fast flowing stream began to run down my face. I turned, my hands flying to my face, and started to run away from him, quickly at first, but my tears were blocking my eyesight, and I slowed down, sinking to my knees. I could hear footsteps from behind me.

"Hey! Wait!" I heard Hansel shout after me, his voice growing closer. I gave up trying to get away from him; my body was shaking from my weeping. Now I had broken, all my fears and hurt was getting let out, and it wouldn't stop. I felt I hand on my back, but I didn't turn around.

"Shh, little lady, shh. It's okay." He whispered into my ears. Well, it certainly wasn't okay, and I started to falter in my crying. He had caused this. It was not okay. I think he rethought what he said, as he quickly backtracked. "Well, it's not okay, but I'm going to try and make it better okay..?" I didn't move. "Gretel, I'm so, so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you." I scoffed, my sobbing dying down now.

"Well...why did you then?" I said, sniffling. I still didn't look at him.

"I don't know. I just... did. I guess I just lost my temper." I could tell he was lying the moment he uttered his first word. I told him as much.

"You're right. The reason I hit you that first day was because... I didn't want you to go on this expedition. If I made it seem like you were too weak, they wouldn't let you go. I did it so...you wouldn't get hurt."

This time, I whizzed around, my eyes, previously sad, fixed him with a steely glare.

"You're hypocrite. You don't want me to get hurt, and then you go ahead and hurt me yourself." He lowered his head, as if in shame.

"I wasn't thinking."

"Too right you weren't." We were both standing up by now, and I folded my arms, and made to walk past him. His head flicked up, and his arm thrust out and clung to my elbow like a snake catching its prey.

"Gretel. Is it okay, for me to call you that?"

"Well what else are you going to call me?" I said coldly, glaring at his hand. He didn't catch my hint to take away his hand. He nodded slowly, as if just understanding how stupid his question was.

"...Sorry. Look, Gretel, please forgive me. I won't hurt you again, I promise. I didn't realise what I was doing, how much pain I caused you. I...I just wanted to keep you safe."

I sighed. To be honest, I really wanted to forgive him. It would make this tortuous week oh so much nicer. Plus, I was tired of fighting with him for stupid, useless reasons. It wasn't fun for either if us. But I couldn't just give in, and forgive him, or he might take advantage of that, and forget his promise.

"I can't forgive you Mr. Hansel. At least, not yet. You caused major destruction to my life, physically and mentally, and that is not an easy thing to forget."

"At least give me a chance." He looked down at me with pleading brown eyes. I hesitated. I guessed that, perhaps, a 'peace treaty' would be good. Slowly, I nodded. His worried face suddenly broke into a bright smile that totally transformed his face. His teeth, even with a gap in the middle, which I realised was smaller than I ever realised before, were straight and clean, which was rare for anyone. His eyes were sparkling, like an angel's teardrop, and his chin cleft became more prominent. I forced myself to snap out of it. Hansel was not attractive, not in a million years. I'd never thought that before, I don't know why a little rare smile should change that. With a slight shake of the head, I turned away, pulling out of his grip.

"Well to start with, if you want to gain my forgiveness, you can carry the bag." Hansel trotted after me, still with that brilliant beam, and nodded his head.

"Sure. I shouldn't have left you to do that anyway."

"I am strong enough!"

"I know you are, Gretel, that's how you managed it these two days I should have been carrying my own bag. I'm sorry"

I raised my hands in defeat and let him pick up the heavy hold-all, smirking slightly. As soon as he turned toward me again, I wiped it off, not wanting to show my faint happiness at this truce.

"Right then, let's go." He grinned, I gestured for him to lead the way. As I followed him along, I began to think through this whole episode. What the hell had happened to him? One minute he was moody, and aggressive, and the next he was apologetic and kind. It was very hard to understand quite what his angle is. Did he really only want to make friends, forgive and forget? Or did he have some ulterior motive, and betray me at the last second?

An hour before I would have known the answer instantly, but now, I wasn't so sure.

_**Please review! Hopefully you like this chapter!**_


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